Congratulations to the graduating class of 2024.
It won’t be long before seniors at JFK Memorial High School hear the testimony of their accomplishments, covering the football field in a sea of green. June will complete their 4-year rollercoaster of advanced classes, exams, extracurriculars, sports, volunteer jobs and societies. In the whirlpool of responsibilities and commitments, high school is a huge opportunity to explore your interests and begin making your mark in the world as a young adult. A few unique individuals may discover a leader within themselves, celebrated for their skills in serving and supporting the members of their communities.
One of these unique individuals is Musfira Mohamed, my friend, “business partner,” and chosen older sister. She has given me guidance and unforgettable advice in almost every issue I’ve had since the beginning of high school. In her own work towards service and involvement in the Muslim community, she has inspired and given me opportunities to get more involved.
Long story short—I want to be her when I grow up. Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing her on her many accomplishments and notable experiences. I hope I did her justice:
Looking back at freshman year Musfira, how is she different from who you are today?
I was a very reserved freshman, but now I am someone who genuinely functions best in a social setting. If you told me freshman year that, during senior year of high school, I will be working with state representatives on legislative agenda and giving speeches that address a 500+ member audience, she would have laughed in your face. Forget mentioning these drastic changes, just the simple fact that I have friends who transcend grade levels, with some of my best friends being in college, would have truly surprised freshman me. She had her books and her academic validation and nothing else. Now, I still have my books and somewhat left of my academic validation, but I also have community engagement and a social life to complement all of that. I’m proud that I’m not keeping myself locked up.
You are so involved with the school and overall community. MSA [Muslim Student Association] president, YM [Young Muslims] coordinator, Key Club Treasurer, National English, and French Honor Society. How do you balance it all?
Everyone asks that—and I’m just like, trust God with your calendar—no, no, seriously, I think it’s just the basic things of having your priorities straight and having the understanding that you signed up for this. I fought to be in the NHS [National Honor Society]. I fought to be in FHS [French Honors Society]. It was a competitive process to get into these societies! So, prioritizing my choices and choosing to do things that I love. Lucky for me, I can learn to love. At the same time, the reality is that passion and a sense of responsibility aren’t going to just magically make everything work out, there are days where I’m not able to manage it all. So I make sure to have an idea of where I can afford to slack. If NHS is having a meeting at the same time as NEHS [National English Honors Society], I ask myself which advisor is most likely to let me off the hook? Most times I don’t even have to take such a sinister route. Sometimes it is just as easy as communicating my situation. If there is a lot of work piling up and there are conflicting events, I just communicate that with my teacher or advisor to reach a needed conclusion. I can’t speak for other schools, but JFK has the most understanding teachers. I am saying that as someone who has been to five different schools and seen a variety of teachers.
Trust, I’m just taking notes for myself at this point. On a related note, you are involved in so many things, so how do you de-stress?
Everything that I’m involved in, is actually things that I enjoy very much, so I think just being involved in what I am passionate about is my de-stressing. Various activities actually serve as a de-stressor from each other. What I mean is, when I go to YM every single Friday after school, that’s my de-stressor from school. Key Club is a break from DEI [Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion team] plans, teaching the kids at Sunday School is a break from the Sundays’ writing articles for The Torch, and so forth. And again, all the activities that I do are things that I genuinely enjoy, so it helps that I don’t find them entirely stressful in the first place.
That’s seriously so amazing. With all the experience, you have a bright future to look forward to. What exactly are you passionate about?
What I’m passionate about, generally, is community service and civic engagement. I really enjoy the camaraderie of the communities that I am part of and the sense of belonging they give me. Having the opportunity to aid those communities through service projects and civic advocacy gives me the greatest sense of satisfaction.
If you could choose to live with one person for the rest of your life—alive/dead, celebrity, family member, friend, anyone—who would it be?
This is a very cliché answer, but my mother. She takes care of everything for me, from packing my lunch every day, to dropping off my forgotten homework. I’m dependent on her help, so I wanna live with her for the rest of my life. My father too. It would be nice if I could have that security he provides me for the rest of my life. That’s two, I’m sorry.
Ever since I was an underclassman, like two or three years ago, you’ve been giving me advice every step of the way in high school and preparing for college. What advice would you give to current or incoming high school freshmen?
Listen up my lovely underclassmen: I’m going to need you to adapt a mindset that accepts an internal locus of control. Meaning, that I need you to completely immerse yourself in the belief that you hold the power to what ultimately becomes of the outcome. It’s easier said than done, but it makes all the difference, especially in pushing you to be more involved.
When you have this mindset, you actually engage in the effort to participate because you understand that if you have a want, like a want for a community, it’s ultimately up to you to go join a club to find that community.
Also, challenge yourself for the sake of self-improvement and not just to impress college admissions officers. This is just in case of the unfortunate event that you don’t get into your desired educational institution despite selling your soul; if you also did for self-improvement, you at least have sight of your new skill sets.
What’s been your biggest obstacle? In life? In your academic career?
I would say my biggest obstacle is two things: my own procrastination and my desire for comfort. Procrastination is self-explanatory, and the desire for comfort refers to how difficult it was for me to engage in activities that didn’t match my skill set. For example, public speaking was definitely not my skill set and I had various opportunities which I gave up, due to the fact public speaking was involved when I should have taken the opportunity and built that skill set instead. But as my teachers say, obstacles are meant to be overcome, and I definitely made progress in overcoming my desire for comfort, especially with public speaking.
On the topic of comfort zones, I know you grew up in India. Can you tell us about what it was like? What are your fondest memories? Was it a difficult transition to move here?
I lived in India ’till I was 9 years old. I would say my time there was a traditional childhood, which is hard to come by these days, so I am extremely grateful for that experience. My memories just consist of snippets of interactions with my family, so I can’t really say what my fondest memory is. But I have random vivid visuals of certain events: such as the bike ride to the hospital when my brother was born, watching “Lazy Town” with my Dad’s cousin, almost being obliterated by my mother because of the tantrum I threw about wearing this itchy orange skirt. But yeah, all I have is very random and oddly specific, vivid visuals for memories.
In terms of my transition from India to America, I definitely had the typical immigrant experience with being ousted at the beginning. My mom would pack me traditional South Indian food for lunch and the strong aroma got mean reactions. The smell of the oil in my hair received unwanted comments too. It was low-key traumatic, the exclusion got even more intense when I started wearing the hijab [headscarf worn by Muslim women]. But that is just how it was, it was middle school and everyone was mean during the middle school years. I don’t have hard feelings about any of it. I am sure those once-mean kids grew up to be better people, or at least I hope. Throughout the years, I got more used to this world and this world also became more accepting of me. Everything is good now, which is all that matters.
What is your motivation? What keeps you going during tough times?
My faith for sure. Having a belief in a greater power provides a heightened level of support and relief. I tend to be paradoxical in the sense that my motivation comes from moments of ease and not hardship. Some people get motivated when they are going through tough times because they want to change that situation. Some people, like me, get motivated at times of ease because I want to maintain this level of peace. And my faith provides me with a sense of ease to maintain that motivation.
What is your favorite memory/time from high school and why?
There are so many. Maybe the in-school iftar, planning and executing that event was such a pain, and there was so much drama, but looking back I find it so amusing and entertaining. The starting days of YM were super fun, even though it was just three girls in attendance. We have many more attendees now and it’s great, but we were so desperate at the starting days—and call me weird—but there was something so charming about that. Oh and getting the ‘I love you’ cards from the kids I teach at Sunday School was so heartwarming. Qiyam [overnight stay] at Al-Wali and MCNJ [Local N.J. mosques] during Ramadan with the entire squad. There is so much more, I can’t pick a favorite.
Lastly, what would be your life’s motto?
That is a hard question. This isn’t really a motto but I do constantly joke, ‘We are all going to die anyway.’ I find solace in the sense of reality and guidance that truth gives me. But if it had to be a motto, I would say ‘Trust in the integrity of what is written for you.’
On behalf of The Torch, congratulations to Musfira! We wish her the best of luck as she continues to work hard and make an impact in her community.
